Attorney General Maura Healey says the Mueller Report released last week demonstrates that President Donald Trump "obstructed justice."
"Just on what we've read alone, to me it's clear this is a president who obstructed justice or attempted to engage in obstruction of justice," Healey told Boston Public Radio Monday.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report found that the president and his campaign team did not "conspire or coordinate" with Russia during the 2016 election. The report did not exonerate the president on obstruction of justice, but Mueller declined to charge him on that count, citing Justice Department legal guidance that prohibits the indictment or criminal prosecution of a sitting president.
Healey called upon Congress to launch investigations due to the report's findings.
"Congress has every right to subpoena more information, subpoena witnesses. I think Congress should do its job and make decisions it sees fit under the facts and the law," Healey said.
In calling for further congressional investigations into the president's conduct, Healey joins other prominent Massachusetts Democrats, including Senator Ed Markey and Representative Stephen Lynch. Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, who is running for president in 2020, says she believes the report provides grounds for the House to initiate impeachment proceedings.
Healey did not go so far as Warren, saying she believes Congress should be focused on fact-finding first and decide from there whether impeachment proceedings are warranted.
"[Congress] should be focused on the facts, they should be focused on getting information," Healey said.
"It would be a shame if the conversation devolves and continues along the lines of this vote counting [on impeachment] and debate," she added. "To me, that's putting the cart before the horse."
